How to Apply for Unemployment Benefits in New Jersey
Unemployment insurance is a form of temporary income that is provided by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development to workers who have become unemployed through no fault of their own. To be eligible for unemployment benefits in New Jersey, you must be a New Jersey resident, all of your employment must be in New Jersey for the 18 months before applying for benefits and you must, as of 2011, have earned a minimum of $7,300 or worked 20 consecutive weeks before seeking unemployment.
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Things You'll Need
- Social Security number
- Alien registration number, if applicant is not a U.S. resident
- Bank information for setting up direct deposit of benefits
- Employer name, address, and telephone number
- Start and end dates of employment
- Reason for separation
- Recall date, if applicable
- Union hiring hall information, if applicant belongs to a union
Instructions
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Check that you are filing for unemployment benefits with the appropriate state. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 12 percent of New Jersey residents work out of state. If you live in New Jersey but worked in another state, you may not be eligible for unemployment benefits in New Jersey. Call the unemployment office in the state where you were employed, such as New York or Pennsylvania, to determine where you should file.
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Determine if you are eligible for unemployment benefits. To qualify for unemployment, you must be involuntarily unemployed, which is the case if you are laid off, let go because of downsizing or a company shutdown, or your union initiated a strike. If you quit or were fired, you may also be eligible for unemployment benefits, but you must demonstrate to the claims examiner that you quit or were fired because of an ongoing conflict with a coworker or boss that could not be resolved, or because your work conditions were intolerable or not safe, or you were fired for poor job performance without warning.
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File even if you think you may not be eligible. According to New Jersey unemployment compensation law, if an employer does not respond to requests for information the Department of Labor is authorized to make a determination for benefits based on available information. That means that if you quit your job because of a conflict with a coworker and your employer fails to return information requests from the Department of Labor about the reason that you quit, the DOL will use information you provide to make a determination.
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Apply for benefits. To file a claim you will need your Social Security number; the name, address and telephone number of your four most recent employers; the dates of your first and last days of employment; and the reason for the separation from employment. Some applicants may also need an alien registration number, if they are not U.S. citizens, recall date or union information.
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File your application online at njsuccess.dol.state.nj.us/html/uimain.html or by telephone Monday through Friday. Applicants in Northeast New Jersey can call the Union City Reemployment Call Center at 201-601-4100. Applicants in Northwest and Central New Jersey can call the Freehold Reemployment Call Center at 732-761-2020. Applicants in South Jersey can call the Cumberland Reemployment Call Center at 856-507-2340.
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Tips & Warnings
Call the Reemployment Centers when they first open -- the call volume is generally lower between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. than during the remainder of the day.
Avoid calling on Mondays and at the end of the day. The call volume is generally highest at these times, and it will be difficult to get through to a representative.
References
- State of New Jersey; Department of Labor and Workforce Development; Unemployment Insurance
- New Jersey Department of Labor: Unemployment Insurance Benefits
- State of New Jersey; Department of Labor and Workforce Development; Unemployment Insurance
- New York State Department of Labor: Unemployment Insurance
- Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation
- Connecticut Department of Labor: Unemployment Benefits Program Information
- Photo Credit Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images
